To Protect
by Omni Storyteller
Summary: It's true Marinette couldn't tell anyone she was Ladybug in order to protect the people she cherished, but that didn't mean she would think twice about risking her identity for the same reason.


**Another oneshot while I work on the sequel of _Strength_. Just wanted to get this idea out. Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: This show and its characters belong to Thomas Astruc. I do not own anything.**

* * *

What should have been a normal day of school life in the city of Paris was foiled by an Akuma attack aimed at the Collège Françoise Dupont.

Since the school had been the target of a few Akuma rampages before, it was deemed necessary to design a drill in which the students were to be safely evacuated from the premises at the first sign of trouble.

But the attack came too quick and without warning, the Akuma victim none other than another student that attended classes there daily. Susceptible to Papillon's influence after being shamelessly humiliated for his kind personality, the student fell under his control as the new villain Smokescreen. Soon enough, the whole school was engulfed in a thick fog of smoke, alerting everyone to his presence.

"I'll show you that I'm no _pushover_!" Smokescreen screamed, his voice booming over the entirety of the school. "I'll show _everyone_!"

Chat Noir had arrived on the scene first, making the evacuation of the students and staff his first priority. He kept a watchful eye out as he ushered those he happened upon to the nearest exit, using his staff as a trail marker.

However, upon guiding what he thought was the last person in the school out of the building, the smoke around him started to shift. A sudden tremor shook the ground beneath the hero's feet, causing him to nearly fall over as he lost his grip on his baton and fully immersing him in the isolation of the fog.

Smokescreen's laughter erupted overhead. "Show yourself, Ladybug! You and your little feline partner both have something that my master wants! And I will take them from you by any means necessary!"

As soon as those words were spoken, the smoke around the hero started to take on a blue hue, alternating between shades as light as the sky and shades as dark as the ocean depths.

Chat Noir held out his arms as he stumbled aimlessly, his legs increasingly becoming weaker as he did. He let out a yelp as he eventually fell over onto his front, his feet giving out as his legs were completely sapped of energy.

But he couldn't stop; he had to make sure no one else was left behind.

Gritting his teeth, the boy pushed himself onto his arms and used them to drag himself forward, despite the fact that the lower half of his body was now useless. But the more he hauled himself through the blue smoke, the heavier he felt his arms become. After a few more feet, he flipped onto his back as he breathed heavily, no longer able to even hold himself up.

Just as he felt the last of the strength in his arms ebb away, fingers suddenly grabbed him under his armpits and proceeded to pull him forward. The hero's eyes darted up in surprise as he tried to get a look at his savior, unaware that he was now dragged into an area of the school where there was no smoke at all.

He felt himself being propped up against the wall, feeling energy return — albeit very slowly — to his numb limbs at the same time. As another presence crouched beside him, he finally turned to look at the person who had found him, and his eyes widened in shock.

"Princess," he breathed out in disbelief.

"Are you all right, Chat Noir?" Marinette asked as she put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm _purr_ -fectly fine, but… this isn't exactly the type of place to stick around." Despite his humor, the hero was alarmed. He would have expected Marinette to be the last person to stay in a place that was under siege by an Akuma.

Marinette let out what seemed to be a mixture of a sigh and a scoff, gesturing behind her with her thumb. "Unfortunately, not all of us were lucky enough to be near an exit. I was in the bathroom when the Akuma attacked."

Chat Noir looked past her towards the direction her thumb was pointed and gasped. Only a few feet away were Alya and Nino, looking more or less wary and serious rather than terrified. They had been caught up in a couple of rampages themselves, after all. And for once, the blogger didn't have her phone, which she was not too happy about.

Nonetheless, all of his friends were still here, and Chat Noir was determined to make sure that nothing happened to them.

Seeing him struggling to stand up, Marinette braced both of her hands on his shoulders and gently yet sternly pushed him back down.

"You can't go charging back in there," she told him. "Your strength hasn't returned yet. That blue smoke? It will drain all your energy the minute you enter it, and you'll just wind up back here."

"She's right, man," Nino chipped in, holding up an electric fan that Chat Noir hadn't noticed before. "The only reason we're not caught up in it is because of this. It was Marinette's idea. As long as we're not in the smoke, the evil dude can't detect us."

"It blew the smoke back but we can't go anywhere with it," Alya added, pointing at the electric socket the fan was plugged into. "So we're stuck here until Ladybug arrives."

And Marinette was really glad it was only them. She didn't like the idea of transforming _right in front of them_ , least of all her partner, but with the way things were going, she soon wouldn't have a choice.

Chat Noir opened his mouth to say something when the villain's booming voice beat him to it.

" _Ladybug and Chat Noir!_ Show yourselves!"

"I have to go," Chat Noir said urgently as he practically tried to force feeling back into his arms and legs. He managed to push himself onto his knees, only to flop over onto his side, Marinette catching his head before it could hit the pavement.

"Like I said, you're not going anywhere," Marinette reminded him before gesturing to Alya. The blogger approached and gingerly knelt beside her, her eyes widening in surprise as Marinette carefully shifted the hero's head to Alya's lap.

"Alya, can you make sure this silly cat stays put?" Marinette asked, earning a consenting yet confused nod from her best friend as she situated Chat Noir more comfortably. The blue-eyed girl smiled, giving one of her partner's fake cat ears an affectionate scratch, before standing up.

"Wait! Marinette, what are you doing?" Alya asked in alarm, Chat Noir watching with fearfully wide eyes as Marinette approached the haze of smoke, stopping just a foot from it.

"Princess, you can't! It's too dangerous!"

Seemingly ignoring the both of them, the blue-eyed girl turned her head towards Nino, her expression utterly serious and quite intimidating.

Nino even flinched as she addressed him. "Nino, you make sure that fan stays running, okay? As long as that fan remains on, you'll all be safe."

The DJ only nodded wordlessly, something in the tone of her voice making it impossible to talk back to, as he clutched the device tighter to his body.

Marinette gave a small smile of approval before turning back to the smoke in front of her, Smokescreen's voice ringing out once again.

"Last call for Paris's superheroes! If you won't come out, then _I'll_ just have to come and find _you_!"

"Like I'll let you," the girl muttered in response as her hands unclasped the purse hanging at her side, letting Tikki fly out. Her three friends gaped in surprise upon seeing the little Kwami, Chat Noir gaping more out of recognition.

Was that a—?

"I'm sorry, Tikki," Marinette said to her little friend ruefully as she hovered above her shoulder. As if it was just the two of them. "I guess it's not going to be a secret anymore after this, huh?"

"It's all right, Marinette," the Kwami replied, understanding.

The two exchanged smiles before they faced forward, Marinette raising her fists in determination.

"Then let's settle this. Tikki, _transform me_!"

Their tiny safe zone briefly lit up with pink light, and after it dissipated, there stood Ladybug in Marinette's place. Her friends couldn't be any more shocked, their eyes widening to the point that one would think they'd pop out and jaws dropping even lower.

Chat Noir's jaw especially looked like it would drop to the ground, his brain ceasing to function as it whirled with many emotions. He was utterly speechless, unable to process.

Ladybug was —

"Hey! You looking for me?" Ladybug called up to the sky, to the villain who adamantly called for their presence. She slung her yo-yo up, where it anchored itself on the roof's ledge. Pulling sharply on the wire, the heroine launched herself up, soaring high above the smoke and straight into battle, drawing Smokescreen's attention away from their safe zone.

Her voice echoed loudly throughout the area, clearly projecting the confidence she had when she called Papillon out, the familiarity causing Chat Noir to flinch. "Well, _here I am_!"

Then, for the feline hero, all at once and with a sudden notion of clarity, it clicked.

* * *

When all was said and done, Ladybug received three types of reactions following her reveal and the battle.

A barrage of questions and complaints about not capturing her heroics on camera or 'keeping it a secret from her best friend' from the blogger.

Nothing but praises and reiterations of how 'awesome and crazy' she was from the DJ.

And the tightest yet most tender embrace she could ever receive from her crime-fighting partner.

Overall, it could have gone worse.

* * *

 **That is, until he revealed himself to her, which I'll leave up to you to decide if he did and what her reaction was. ;P**


End file.
